India's domestic passenger market August growth highest in the world

NEW DELHI: India’s domestic passenger market grew the largest in the world during the month of August with Indian airlines carrying 18.3 per cent more passengers compared to the same month last year.

“Domestic travel demand rose 7.1 per cent in August compared to August 2014, with double-digit growth occurring in India, China and Russia while both Brazil and Japan saw declines compared to the year-ago period,” International Air Transport Association said in a release on Thursday.

Among the three countries that registered a double digit growth, China registered a growth of 13.6 per cent and Russian federation registering a growth of 10.9 per cent, showed the IATA data.

Domestic capacity was up 6.1 per cent, and load factor improved 0.8 percentage points to 83.8 per cent, showed the IATA data.

IATA credits the growth in passenger number in India to “increase in service frequencies and economic strength”.

The Indian carriers flew 8.4 per cent more capacity in the Indian market during the month of August this year, compared to same month last year.